Decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bedsores, typically develop when a patient spends a relatively long period of time recuperating in bed with a minimal amount of movement. Various different types of beds and mattresses have been designed to avoid the development of decubitus ulcers and/or to treat decubitus ulcers which have already developed. One known type uses a mattress containing an inflatable bladder arrangement with a number of separate zones, and a control unit that separately controls the pressure in each zone. Such a mattress is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,136. While mattresses of this type have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects.
At least where there are a plurality of zones, the mattress unit is often an integral part of an entire bed. Since the mattress is the entire bed and has various bladder means, the mattress unit deflates slowly. In some instances, the mattress unit must deflate in seconds, not minutes. Such rapid deflation is necessary when the patient requires emergency care, such as, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This rapid deflation is commonly called CPR drop.
The conventional CPR drop, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,136, entails pushing a CPR button. That CPR button causes the control unit to deflate the bladders. That control unit opens all the valves and reverses the direction of the blower so the blower sucks air out of the bladders. The "sucked air" enters a manifold. That manifold directs the "sucked air" into a conduit that expels the "sucked air."
Obviously, that CPR drop system, of U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,136, has numerous mechanical operations that must operate properly to deflate the numerous bladders. If one of those mechanical operations (the electrical connection between the CPR button and the other electrical instruments, i.e., the blower and valves, the blower must timely switch its direction and speed, the valves must switch, the manifold must be capable of directing all the "sucked air" into the single conduit, and the single conduit must be large enough to direct the "sucked air" out of the manifold) does not properly or timely operate then the CPR drop system essentially malfunctions. Such malfunctions are extremely deleterious to the patient and should be avoided.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable mattress system that has a CPR drop system that avoids any possible malfunctions. Thereby, insuring the safety of the patient.
A further object of the invention is to provide a mattress system wherein a person with limited training can perform the CPR drop safely and effectively in a prescribed time frame.